Fast paced, beautifully choreographed, and downright silly, Jiang Wen's Let the Bullets Fly is what you'd get if combining the action and comedy of John Woo and Stephen Chow. Wen, who also co-stars and co-wrote the script, reportedly agonized over the writing to the point where he went through 30 drafts until he finally got it right. While the multiple characters and multiple double-crossings can get a touch convoluted and hard to follow, Wen's film is frequently hilarious and pays homage to classic Hollywood movies better than many Hollywood productions do.An old school Western at its core, Let the Bullets Fly has the dusty old look of a John Ford film, with Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo also a clear influence. Don't be confused by seeing so many stylistically different directors referenced, as the film mashes up and switches genres at the drop of a hat, making for a wildly off balance experience that is an absolute blast.
Set in 1920s China, the story begins with an expertly staged train robbery by a bandit leader who claims to be the infamous "Pocky" Zhang(Jiang Wen). The only people left alive are Tang(Feng Xiaogang), a jittery con man who has bought the governorship of a place called Goose Town after the guy who was supposed to take over died en route. Along with him is the old governor's treacherous wife, now Tang's mistress. Zhang, who sees a chance to earn some real cash in Goose Town, spares Tang's life but assumes his identity as the governor, bringing the weaselly trickster along as his couselor.
Their arrival in Goose Town is met with drums and much celebration, except there's one who isn't so happy to see them make it safely. The dusty old town, which despite the Asian architecture looks like it's due for a tumbleweed crossing, is already under the iron grip of local gangster named Master Huang(Chow Yun-Fat). Huang shows his arrogance and ultimate displeasure by only sending his favorite hat to the introduction party, and from there let's just say neither side will be having each other over for tea.
Well, that's not completely true. Huang, who has killed off all of Goose Town's other governors, immediately sees Zhang as a threat and sets out to undermine his authority immediately. Zhang wants to string Huang up by his neck, but not before taking every last bit of his money. Good luck following their often mystifying schemes, as the story seems to have been developed intentionally to leave you scratching your head. Between Huang's goons and Zhang's seven-man squad, all of whom where the same masks at different stages, it's impossible to keep track of what's going on at times. Throw in some body doubles, a fake "Pocky" Zhang, and Tang's consistently inconsistent allegiances, and Let the Bullets Fly is often the height of lunacy.Perhaps as a by product of Wen's struggles perfecting the script, he seems a little confused how to wind down such a roller coaster in a sensible way. At 130 minutes, it's too long by about twenty minutes, and with so many swirling subplots a couple of the less important ones could have been cut without damaging the momentum one bit.
And yet it's undeniably fun, and the characters all memorable. Wen, who is as charismatic an actor as he is one of China's elite directors,is the perfect foil to Chow Yun-Fat's scene chewing villainy. The pace is brisk and never slows down, nor do the many homages to other of Wen's many influences. When you can somehow emulate George C. Scott's Patton and still have it make sense you're doing something right. Already the highest grossing production in Chinese history, Wen has an undeniable hit on his hands, one that would fare well if given a chance here in America.
Buy Let the Bullets Fly (Collector's Edition) (2010) Now
The box office of this movie is the 2nd in China for all time. The first one is Avatar. This is the best Chinese movie in my opinion. Three top Chinese actors showed they excellent performance in this movie. A must buy blu ray. I own the Hong Kong editon for a much higher price at the first day of 2011. I don't know how the English Audio, but I think it's better use Chinese Audio and English subtitle.Read Best Reviews of Let the Bullets Fly (Collector's Edition) (2010) Here
"Let the Bullets Fly" ("Rang zidan fei") stars Chow Yun-Fat, but you will soon realize this is no ordinary action movie, the moment he appears on the screen in a double role as a "villain" Master Huang and his "body double" mimicking him in a farce-like scene. No, bullets may fly, but Chow Yun-Fat's latest movie is not a John Woo-style hyper-intense action film that you might be looking forward to.In fact, Chow Yun-Fat's role is more like a supporting one, as the film's star is Wen Jiang (who also directs) as a smart bandit Pocky Zhang, who, disguised as a newly appointed mayor, has just arrived at Goose Town, a provincial town relentless Master Huang dominates. It is nearly impossible to summarize what follows, twists and turns resulting from their never-ending conflict. All I can say that "Let the Bullets Fly" contains intrigues and double-crossing, but not the "action" you have seen in "Hard Boiled."
Set in 1920s, China, "Let the Bullets Fly" looks like a spaghetti Western with more chaotic and outrageous events. Many characters die in a violent (and sometimes silly) way. Most female characters are relegated to marginal roles (even Carina Lau disappears unceremoniously). Wen Jiang adopts a hodge-podge style of narrative that may remind you of either Tarantino or Kusturica.
With several familiar faces from the Chinese film industry, the film has already become one of the hugest commercial hits in mainland China, but "Let the Bullets Fly" may owe its success to what its story suggests in the subtext. It is often pointed out that the film is really a political parable masked as entertainment. Naturally Wen Jiang as director would not admit that, though even non-Chinese audiences would sense the film's satirical jabs at what he thinks constitutes the modern society of China. Sadly, however, most of the references would be lost on non-Chinese speakers like me.
Probably the 132-minute film, of which structure seems bloated, should be watched and appreciated in this context. Even so, however, I couldn't help feeling that the film's quirky charms would be more effective with more restrained direction.
Want Let the Bullets Fly (Collector's Edition) (2010) Discount?
'Let The Bullets Fly' is a funny, classy, profane Chinese spaghetti western with rice noodles and hot sour sauce substituting for spaghetti.The film's humour goes over the top (with CGI assistance), with one of its funniest and most reference-laden scenes of a train holdup by bandits in 1920 warlord China during the first few minutes leading into the titles. The steam railway engine belches smoke, like any fire chariot... but wait, it's being drawn by horses. All that smoke is from the biggest Sichuan hotpot you've ever seen, that almost fills a luxurious private carriage in which a new provincial governor (Ge You), his wife (Carina Lau), and counselor (Feng Xiaogang) are carousing and banqueting as they journey to their new post, protected by a second carriage full of highly alert Republican guards armed with ancient matchlocks. All are unaware that they are targeted for ambush by bandit leader Zhang (Jiang Wen).
This is the fourth film directed by Jiang Wen, a famous Chinese actor who extends the noodle western metaphor of this film by acting and directing, somewhat in the footprints of Clint Eastwood, but very much in his own style. This is a funny movie with high production values, humour darker and less accessible to non-Chinese audiences than that of Jackie Chan without the martial arts showmanship and slapstick that Chan brings to his films. The film is not at all in the familiar historical epic/kung fu genre of Chinese movies recently popular in the west.
The script, by Jiang Wen, is adapted from a story by Sichuanese author and satirist Ma Shitu 马识途, 'Dao Guan Ji' 盗官记 ('Tale of the Bandit Official'), from his fictional work published in 1983, 'Ye Tan Shi Ji' 《夜谭十记》('Ten Night-time Tales').
Jiang Wen's cast is well chosen, with particularly good work by his four very capable lead actors, including himself. The most recognizable member of the cast to western audiences, Chow Yun-Fat, plays against type as a villain, Huang, the mob boss of Goose Town. One of China's favourite cinema clowns, Ge You a Chinese Cantinflas shows great comic timing throughout in the role of conman Ma Bangde. Carina Lau has the only standout female role as the much-widowed governor's wife. Jiang Wen himself plays the wily, whimsical bandit leader Zhang.
The Emperor Motion Pictures Blu-ray release available through Amazon resellers has excellent image and sound quality, and a second special features disc. Unfortunately for most of the non-Chinese speaking audience, the sound track options are only Mandarin, and unusually Sichuan dialect. The English sub-titles are good, but being necessarily abbreviated cannot carry all nuances of the script, or even its Chinese profanity.
Save 48% Off
0 comments:
Post a Comment